“We know at the UCI that it’s a rule that best represents the past. There’s a desire to change this. Firstly, it’s a relic of the past. Secondly, it doesn’t make any sense and doesn’t do what it was set out to achieve.

“I speak of this slightly nervously and I don’t think it’s a huge secret that we plan to change this, but I’m working very closely with the industry. I’ve learnt a lot from the disc brake project. Teams are interested, manufacturers are interested, riders and fans and organisers are interested in this.”

UCI’s technical manager downplays risk of disc brakes

The UCI’s technical manager Mark Barfield has also told CyclingTips that he believes the risks posed by disc brakes are overstated.

“This is without a doubt a trial, we are in no way changing the rules until we get the results back from the this trial and that we are satisfied that there are no risks,” Barfield told .

“People feel very strongly about this and to be honest I can’t work out quite why,” he said, speaking to CyclingTips’ David Everett. “I suspect it’s tradition, but it’s undoubtedly an emotional response. What I’ve found out over the years is it’s very difficult to argue and put over a rational answer to an emotional response.

“The other argument is the danger involved. I have had to put together a lot of information primarily for the discussion that are taking place in Barcelona at the moment. First of all, I was asked about mountain biking. The thing is that you don’t usually get big bunch crashes but when you do crash the injuries from discs are no more common or uncommon as that from a chainring or spokes.”

British junior TT champion Gabriel Evans has admitted to the use of the blood booster EPO. Evans’ confession has stunned British cyclists, given the London Dynamo rider is just 18 years of age. His admission was posted on the Timetrialling forum on Thursday, with the second year junior from London giving details about his case.

“On 3 August 2015 I bought EPO for the first time. On 11 August 2015 I travelled to France for a weeks training camp with the family of a then-teammate,” he wrote. “With me I brought one vial of EPO. This was found by the teammate’s father who presented evidence to UK Anti-Doping.

“UKAD contacted me shortly after to arrange a deposition, in which I promptly admitted to all wrongdoing. I withdrew from the upcoming Junior Tour of Wales, the premier event on the junior calendar.”

Meanwhile those within British cycling are also scratching their heads over a second doping case, albeit for different reasons. On Thursday UKAD said that Richardson-Trek RT rider Andrew Hastings had been banned for four years after testing positive for two anabolic steroids. The most surprising aspect about the case is his explanation. In a detailed statement released by UKAD, his defence claimed that he went to a gym on February 17 and decided to give himself a vitamin B12 injection.

“He told those present that he had run out of syringes and he wanted to take a Vitamin B12 injection but was unable to do so because he did not have a syringe. One of the persons present is said to have checked his bag and had a used syringe with him. This person then offered the syringe to the Respondent. [Hastings] said he brought the syringe home with him and injected himself with B12. He claims the source of the steroids must have been that syringe and, as a result, argued that his positive test was due to no fault of his own.”

2016 Vuelta could have 10 summit finishes

A report in Spanish newspaper AS suggests that the 2016 Vuelta a España could feature as many as 10 mountaintop finishes, more even than this year’s climbing-heavy edition of the race.

If the AS prediction is true, the Vuelta could spend much of its time in the northern half of Spain, avoiding the Andalucía region in the south of the country. If so, this would reduce the distance of transfers between stages — a cause of some complaints in recent editions.

Cyclist killed in Sydney was ‘amazingly talented’ NSW government staffer

Friends and family are mourning the death of government staffer Nicolas Ruygrok after the 25-year-old was killed during a Dulwich Hill Bicycle Club ride on Wednesday morning.

Ruygrok, a policy adviser to NSW Attorney-General Gabrielle Upton, was involved in a collision with a car in Maroubra and later died at the scene, despite the best efforts of paramedics.

“Nick was gentle, smart and popular with a bright future in front of him. He is sorely missed,” Ms Upton said in a statement. The Dulwich Hill Bicycle Club, reportedly one of the oldest cycling clubs in Australia, released a statement saying it was “greatly saddened” by Ruygrok’s death.

“As club members know, [the club] prides itself on safety and will of course review its practices in the wake of the incident. As more facts come to light, the club will provide more information,” the statement said. “For now, our thoughts are with the deceased rider’s family. The club will offer whatever assistance possible at this terrible time.”

Police Inspector Chris Whalley said early indications suggest the driver was not at fault.

Students ‘draw’ a snowman over Dublin using Strava

Two first-year physics students at University College Dublin have tried their hand at some Strava art as temperatures drop in the lead-up to Christmas. In a ride of just over 60km Simon Jones and Adam O’Reilly traced out the shape of a snowman over the Irish capital.

“I was bored one day just studying – or procrastinating – and I thought it’d be cool to come up with something like that,” explained Jones. “It was hard to do and it wasn’t my first idea; I tried to do a Santa head around Howth Head but I couldn’t make it work so I ended up with the snowman.”

The team promised on Twitter that “We will keep challenging the conservatism in cycling… also visually!”

Sprint Training with Shane Perkins

This video provides an interesting look at the physical preparations two-time world champion and Olympic medalist Shane Perkins puts himself through when he’s getting ready for a big race meet.

Danny MacAskill’s Cascadia

Scottish trials wizard Danny MacAskill is back with another thrilling video, this time shot on the rooftops of Gran Canaria.

Thereabouts 2, the documentary: today only!

Here on CyclingTips, for today only, we’re screening the hour-long Thereabouts 2 documentary featuring Lachlan and Gus Morton, Taylor Phinney and Cam Wurf. The video is now online and can be seen here.

What You Missed

And finally this morning, here are a few things you might have missed at CyclingTips in the past few days:

The CyclingTips Daily News Digest features the most important and interesting news and content from around the cycling world, published every weekday morning at 9am AEST. Get it delivered straight to your inbox.

Best one I’ve heard. If he’s telling the truth he should be banned for being an idiot.

TV Time Tommy

To all those kids with dogs that ate their homework – the bar just got raised a little higher.

Dave

Tinkoff is not “bringing art back to cycling” – they’ve just slapped hi-vis patches on a bunch of leftover $pecialized-lululemon kit.

Superpilot

They are to doing to cycling what the NRL is also doing, multiple kit designs to sell to the punters over a year. It’s good salesmanship. I’ve lost count of the tinkoff camo kits from this year I’ve seen around.

Dave

Soccer, basketball, cricket and AFL (roughly in that order) were onto multiple kit designs years before the NRL followed along behind them.

The Tinkoff camo kits are excellent and should be what they use in races.

The normal hi-vis yellow kit is awful, but in the Vuelta it did prove useful for showing that hi-vis does not stop idiot drivers from hitting cyclists.

Cynic

I’m guessing the EPL caught onto this about 15 years ago…?

Would have thought 5 different Man U strips sell a bit more than any Tinkoff ones…

Gordon

I heard a rumour that the camo kit was the preferred option but no-one could find them.

RayG

I may not know much about art, but I know what I like. That isn’t it.

Arfy

But it’s French “Dazzle Ship” art!

Dave

Because the performance of the only Navy to be defeated by both the Axis and Allied powers in WWII is really something you want to associate yourself with.

Could it possibly be good enough to knock Tyler Hamilton off the top of the cycling charts? Even if it does, it’s not quite good enough to challenge Ekaterina Thanou and Konstantinos Kenteris for the outright title they gained in relation to the motorcycle farce from the same Olympics where Hamilton got caught.

The kid needs to get the full four year maximum ban for a first offence. Our sport doesn’t need him.

Michele

Dave .. you read The Secret Race? TH explained – quite well – the strategy of putting 2nd twin out there. Was never his defence – Hamilton never said his second twin was the reason why he tested positive. He just wondered – out loud – after being informed by scientists that vanishing twins make it possible for someone to have 2 blood types in their body.

Quote from the Denver Post [before The Secret Race came out]:

I [the journalist] asked him about it [the vanishing twin] Thursday and he said he didn’t believe it, either.

“That wasn’t my idea,” Hamilton said. “That was something that came up from the scientists, the doctors. It was one way to have a second blood type in your blood. And the press just went off on that. It was just one possibility. I didn’t know. I never blood doped with anyone else. That’s the other thing. I blood doped a lot but I didn’t take anyone else’s blood. Whether it was a bad test or whether or not it was messed up, I don’t know.”

Sean parker

Phew, after watching Macaskill’s video I am so pleased he managed to avoid cutting his legs off on his disc brakes.

I can’t believe the UCI allow him to ride with these Spinning Blades of Death attached to his bike.

dubonb1ke

Amazing skills in that video and whole lot better than the recent drop n roll video.

Just as I was sitting here thinking “All very impressive, but these trick videos are getting a bit same same”, they throw in a unexpected ending…

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Laurens

An anagram of Danny MacAskill is “any mad skill can”. Just saying.

Marc

That MacAskill video was disgraceful. I admire his skills but he surely could have showed them somewhere else. This was trespassing, invading someones else’s privacy and they made it look like it was a cool thing to do. He had no right to be there, ride there and potentially damage somebody’s property even if that meant they tiniest scratch.

Sean parker

Hey marc, you’re completely right. It is disgraceful.
i doubt if he practiced any of this time and time again. I bet he just woke up hopped on his bike and started riding over people’s property.

Still, I wonder what they thought of their weber baby-q’s being pushed out of the way to make room for those massive ramps being installed? or the unobtrusive film crew setting up, taking light measurements, checking sun angles and taking multiple takes and angles of his totally unplanned and unrehearsed jumps.

I doubt if any repainting was done of the town, either, and it always that it is always bright and pastel coloured with no washing, rubbish, sleeping cats or people around.

Amazing and so rude of him.

Marc

That’s not the point. Even if he had permission of every single property owner, the thing is that he gave the impression he did not. As the statement of the guy on the radio at the end is showing quite clearly. Worse, he gives the impression that this is a cool thing to do, setting a bad example for all the wannabe kids out there.

Michele

So after watching that video, you’re more concerned with wanna-be kids out there deciding they want to be cool by trespassing?

If anything, I’d be more concerned with wanna-be kids out their trying to emulate these stunts – regardless of whether done in their own backyard, or on someone else’s property.

Marc

Yes I am Michele. It sends out the message that you can do anything you like for your own amusement without regarding other people.

Michele

No offense Marc .. that might be the message you get from watching that video.

muz

Sheez dude, take a chill pill.

If that doesn’t work, perhaps you could write to Danny and ask him to change his ways…

Sean parker

It is cool. Which is why he makes so much money out of it.

I reckon that kids, like us, might be able to separate the artifice of the video from the reality.

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